It's What Friends DO
by Bendyfish
Summary: What if Ianto confided in Tosh about Lisa in the basement and Jack finds out before Ianto finds a robotics specialist. First fanfic ever, please review.


Title: It's What Friends Do

Author: Bendyfish

Story line: What if Ianto confided in Tosh about Lisa in the basement and Jack finds out before Ianto finds a robotics specialist.

Ianto tiredly walks though the damp and dank corridors of the lower levels of Torchwood rubbing his eyes, he has spent another night down there tending to Lisa, her systems going down twice thru the night. Ianto recalls the night as one of the worst, her systems were failing almost nightly now, he had to find someone and soon.

Nights of getting scattered sleep and then working the long hours cleaning up everyone's mess and keeping the team dosed up on their favourite form on caffeine were taking its toll. Not to mention the special attention that Jack had for Ianto. Ianto was confused with his feeling towards the enigmatic and handsome leader of Torchwood. He loved Lisa; that's why he joined Torchwood again; to get some help for her, the love of his life, the person who saw past his quietness, the person who showed him love for the first time in a life littered with harshness and pain. But Jack was something else, why did Ianto's heart skip a beat whenever he thought of the man, his smile, his confidence, his hands on his body… Ianto didn't understand why he enjoyed his 'time' with Jack, he was only doing this to distract Jack from him learning of Lisa in his basement. Yeah Ianto has every intention to tell Jack later but he wants Lisa to be cured first, Ianto wasn't too sure if Jack would shoot first, ask questions later, from archival evidence it was clear that Jack would shoot any Cyberman first, questions, if there were any questions, were much later. It's not that Jack was a harsh man, quite gentle in his lovemaking actually, it's that it seemed that Jack did not tolerant any insurgents that could decimate so many people as the Cybermen did at Canary Wharf.

Ianto walked straight into Tosh not noticing her as she had come in early and was heading to the archives to look for a file. Ianto only 'allowed' Tosh down into the archives, he knew that of all the team she was the only one who would never mess up his system of filing.

"Oh.. hi Ianto. Didn't know that you were in. no coffee made ?!" of course that's the identifier of whether he was in, Ianto thought sarcastically .

"Oh… umm, yeah, umm I … I thought I'd go check up …..um ….check for the file of ummm….the Yanoo that came in yesterday"

"But Ianto you gave it to Owen yesterday!" Tosh looked at Ianto intently, noticing the dark bags under his eyes, his skin greyish and how dishelled his hair was. "Ianto? Are you all right? "

"I'm fine Tosh" Ianto said quickly

"no you're not" it wasn't usual for Tosh to pry or even to push an issue but Ianto, who she considered a friend, one of few that she could call a friend, what was she thinking – her only friend, Owen, pretty much ignored her; Suzie, was so wrapped up in her own experiments that she pretty much ignored everyone, and Jack, well after rescuing her from that awful dungeon he just left her to her own devices giving her projects to work on, they only talked work. No, Ianto was her only friend, they chatted about things outside Torchwood, nothing too serious, just general, Welsh rubgy, Welsh weather, what movies were showing (athough they never got around to watching any – Torchwood never allowed time to do these activities) and she was questioning him, but that's what friends do?

Ask about their health, their wellbeing, why was Ianto denying that something was wrong, he really looked bad. Tosh tried again " Ianto please you don't look good, sorry, but you look like you haven't slept, in forever"

"I'm fine" growled Ianto, he didn't mean to growl but he was tired and Tosh was seeing him before he had a chance to tidy himself up before the gang got in he got a little worried that his secret would be revealed.

"Ianto, please, I'm your friend you would tell me if something was wrong" pleaded Tosh

Ianto tired of this line of questioning pushed past Tosh mumbling about getting the coffee on.

Tosh knew this was out of the norm for Ianto, the usually quiet and polite young man, she grabbed Ianto and held his face in her tiny hands, he is quite tall and she had to reached up but Ianto didn't resist her, his eyes downcast, not making any contact with Tosh's. "Please Ianto please tell me what's wrong, I consider myself your friend and I don't have many and I don't want to lose you, so please tell me what's wrong. My mother used to say to me if you have a problem share it with friends and the problem is halved and you never know they might even have a solution that you hadn't thought of"

At the mention of 'mother' Ianto's resolve weakened, he missed his mother, she was always his go to person but she has been gone so long now. Tears from Ianto tickled Tosh's hands as she held his face. "Oh Ianto I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry"

Ianto sank to the floor taking Tosh with him. "It's all so much, I thought I could help her, but she is getting worst, I can't find the right specialist " Ianto said in a rush, not realising.

"Who, what's getting worst, what…?

Ianto started crying more heavily now that with the realisation that he maybe said too much.

Tosh cradled him best that she could and waited, saying soothing words that everything will be okay, not really understanding what she could do as she didn't really know what the problem was really.

After some time Ianto's crying lessened and Tosh cautiously asked what was the problem.

"Canary Wharf, the cybermen, the Daleks, I saved her…. I saved her, but …."

Tosh knew something of Canary Wharf, of how the Cybermen and Daleks killed so many, and oh… she remembered that Ianto would have been working at Canary Wharf at the time, but she thought that he wasn't in at work that day, how could he have survived, there were only a few survivors and they were all accounted for or so she thought. She was part of the clean up at Torchwood One , there wasn't much left, well no person to save. "Ianto? Were you there that day?" Ianto nodded.

"What did you see?

"It was horrible, the screams, my friends, my Lisa … I saved her."

"Ianto what do you mean you saved her?"

"She was in the machine, they were converting her, when all the cybermen and daleks got whoosed away but I got her free, the conversion wasn't complete"

Tosh started to understand, " Ianto, where is Lisa?

Ianto started to cry again. "Ianto please I can help."

Ianto heaved to try to stem the crying, he really didn't like being this soft, this really wasn't him. But it was getting all so much, maybe Tosh could help him, she's smart, she knew technology and she is his friend, maybe, just maybe, Ianto dared to hope. "Lisa, she's in the far basement, can you help her?"

Tosh nodded not sure what she was agreeing to but Ianto was her friend and it's what friends do. "sure, let's go see her"

Ianto lead Tosh to the far basement as he described what he had been doing for Lisa, how he had hooked up some systems for respiratory system and an intravenous drip to give her nutrients but how he needed to find someone who could disengage the robotics systems within her body to allow her to function on her own. Tosh listened not quite believing what she was hearing, could Ianto really have a cyberman in the basement, should she be going down into the basement, surely this cyberman is safe, is there such as thing as a safe cyberman, as Ianto has been looking after this cyberman/Lisa for some time. Tosh was in two minds but Ianto was her friend, she trusted him, she felt his longing for this to work. Surely she could help him, but she kept her hand ready to hit her blue tooth just in case. What was she doing, should she be going down here, her mind raced with all these thoughts.

They reached the basement, Ianto took out an ancient key that was hidden in a false pocket of his jacket and with a hopeful shy smile to Tosh put the key in and turned the key in the tumbler, and pushed the heavy door open "Lisa, I've got someone who can help you"

Tosh peered into the dark basement and saw what she thought she never see again, a cyber conversion unit. On it was a pretty girl with many metal attachments to most of her body, her legs and arms were covered in the metal casing , her head encased in a metal helmet that was so cyberman , oh why couldn't Ianto see that this was more cyberman than …what did Ianto call her…Lisa.

Tosh watched Ianto caressed the cyberman/Lisa with such love and then she knew that Ianto could not see the cyberman, he could only the woman that he loved.

Chapter Two

Tosh didn't know what she should do, she was in two minds, her logical mind told her to press the blue tooth and alert Jack, her other mind, the one who could see the hopeful longing of a friend told her to see what she could do for her friend. Tosh could see that the cyberman/Lisa was strapped to the conversion unit and seemed sedated as the machinery breathed for her and the creature's eyes were closed. Although this did not stem the flow of fear in her as she got closer to the control console. She could see that the many systems that Ianto had rigged were showing that the cyberman/Lisa was more cyberman than human but how to tell Ianto that his Lisa wasn't going to come back.

Ianto tore his eyes from Lisa and looked at Tosh with pleading in his eyes hopeful that his friend could be the answer to his prayers, the answer to help Lisa, to make Lisa like she was before the cybermen did this to her. With a small voice Ianto said "Help her, can you make her whole again, make her my Lisa like she was before"

'Oh Ianto, I don't know that I can"

"You must" his voice rose "There must be something that you can do"

"I don't know Ianto, the conversion is too ….much"

"Please"

"Ianto we need to tell Jack"

Fear rose in Ianto. His friend wasn't going to help him, his friend was going to tell Jack, the man who would not see Lisa, would only see the cyberman. Ianto grabbed Tosh around her thin shoulders and with pleading in his eyes demanded she do something to help.

"Ianto let me go" fear engulfed Tosh, she realised that her friend was not thinking straight.

Ianto sensing Tosh's fear let her go, he was torn between his love for Lisa and his friend Tosh who showed him any companionship since he started at Torchwood Three. "Please don't tell Jack, he wouldn't understand"

"Ianto, Lisa is not Lisa anymore, can you not see that?"

"But I love her"

"Oh Ianto I don't doubt that you love her, but she is beyond help"

"No I won't believe that, there must be something that you can do"

"Please let me tell Jack, he may know if there is something that can be done"

"NO"

Tosh reached for her blue tooth and pressed the button to speak but Ianto knocked her hand away.

Jack up in his office wandering where his coffee and Ianto was, it was past 7.30am and one thing that he came to expect since employing Ianto was Ianto was never late and the coffee, that heavenly coffee that Ianto concocted was always on his desk at 7.30am without fail. His blue tooth buzzed in his ear opening up a com however all he heard was a strangled cry of "Ianto, le…". Jack immediately accessed the body scans of the hub and saw that there were no heat signatures of his crew in the main hub or in the tourist office. He scanned further and saw two body scans in the one of the basements deep within the bowels of the hub, no one goes down there, there's nothing down there, they haven't been used for many decades. Jack's senses went into overdrive, what's going on? he wondered. He pressed the blue tooth device but nothing. Jack grabbed his gun and tucking it into his holster raced down into the unused basement where he could see the heat signatures.

Tosh stared unbelievably at Ianto, who looked scared and angry at the same time. "Ianto please let me get help, I'm not going to be able to help ….Lisa?"

"You are going to destroy her, you have to help her, help her to be Lisa again" screamed Ianto desperately.

"Ianto please believe me that she is beyond help, I can't help you"

"Why, all I do for you all, is help you, why can't you help me, help her" Ianto grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

As Jack approached the basement where the heat signatures originated from he could hear raised voices that sounded like Ianto and Tosh but that couldn't be, of all his crew, those two were friends, more so than Owen and Suzie.

Jack rushed into the basement, what he saw was beyond what he could ever imagine. Was that a cyber conversion unit and what was Ianto and Tosh doing here. Jack quickly released his gun from his holster and aimed it at the cyberman strapped in the conversion unit.

Ianto seeing Jack enter the room and aim his gun at his girlfriend, leaped at Jack flooring him. Jack startled by the attack by Ianto lost his grip on his gun and it scattered across the floor. Jack stared at Ianto who was pressed up against him pinning him to the floor much like when they captured the pterodactyl many months ago, only this time there was no curious sexual eye contact just hatred in Ianto's eyes. Jack pushed Ianto off him as Ianto scrambled for Jack's gun.

Ianto got to Jack's gun before Jack could realised what Ianto was doing. Ianto held Jack's gun to Jack's head. Jack confused, shouted "What are you doing? I'm not the enemy, there is a cyberman here, are you mad?"

"That is Lisa, she is not fully converted, we can save her" Ianto pleaded to Jack

Jack quickly realising that Ianto's girlfriend Lisa was not dead as Ianto told him many months ago but the converted cyberman strapped to the converson unit and Ianto believed that he could turn her human again. With sorrow in his heart he stared at Ianto and said "Ianto, once converted they stay that way, you won't be able to save her"

Ianto shook Jack's gun at him "We are going to save her, I'm going to save her"

Jack shook his head slowly trying not to agitate Ianto further, for he could see that Ianto was not in his right state of mind, he knew what love could do to a person, he had been this desperate before, many times before, in his long life he had known many loves, known that he couldn't save the ones he loved, why he stopped loving because it hurt too much. And he could see this same hurt in Ianto's eyes. What could he say to Ianto so he could understand, what could he say to stop him from doing something that just wasn;t Ianto, Ianto was not a killer.

Tosh, forgotten by both men, stood by the console began pressing buttons, buttons that would stop the ventilator that was supplying the artificial life that was Lisa and yet wasn't Lisa. The constant beeping that Ianto heard for so long stopped, and Ianto stopped, standing still, trying to understand what was happening. With his eyes wide he dropped the gun to the floor and ran to where Tosh stood at the console, screaming for Tosh to stop, to please stop, it wasn't to end like this. The cyberman/Lisa breathed her last artificial breathe and her chest ceased to rise and fall.

Ianto desperately pressed the buttons on the console, then ran to his Lisa and holding onto her, willing her to breathe, screaming that she didn't need the ventilator to breathe, that she could do this on her own. With tears streaming down his face he clung to the cyberman demanding that Jack or Tosh do something, anything but after what felt like hours he slowly realised that Lisa was well and truly gone and with that all hope for him to carry on.

Jack and Tosh watched unsure of what to do for Ianto as he cried and wailed his sorrow. Ianto turned, his face tear stained, about to utter something when he sighted Jack's gun still on the floor where it slid to the far wall. Ianto rushed to the gun and he put the gun to his head and as he was about to pull the trigger Jack leaped at him knocking the gun out of his hand.

"Why did you stop me?" Ianto yelled at Jack

"Because even though you don't think you can go on, believe me, you can and you will. I will be here to help you"

"Why do you want to help me, I wanted you to help Lisa?"

"Because Lisa was not Lisa anymore, I'm sorry to say you lost Lisa at Canary Wharf, it was awful what happened there but it ends here. There will be no more deaths because of Canary Wharf. I'm sorry, I should have seen your grief, it is all my fault, you should not have had to suffer for this long. Please let me help you" Jack pleaded with Ianto. "I know what you are going through, it seems hard now but you will find meaning again, I promise, please let me show you that you can avenge what happened at Canary Wharf"

Ianto stared long and hard at Jack and for once in a long long time he saw that here was someone who believed in him as he had a sudden realisation that his desperate attempt to keep Lisa alive was futile. He always knew but denied it to himself.

Maybe just maybe he could live life again.

The End


End file.
